Bib



NOV. 16, 1954 c, SANDERS 2,694,199

BIB

Filed March 26, 1951 United States Patent BIB Lucile Carolyn Sanders, Clayton, Mo.

Application March 26, 1951, Serial No. 217,590

1 Claim. (Cl. 249) This invention relates to infants bibs.

The object of the invention is the provision of a highly absorbent infants bib, adapted quickly to absorb any liquid or semi-liquid spilled thereon to prevent spillage from running off the bib, thereby providing improved garment protection, the bib being adapted to be readily laundered when soiled and to be used over and over again.

in general, a bib of this invention comprises a pad of soft, spongy, porous material, such as foam rubber or sponge rubber, impregnated with a Wetting agent, so that a liquid will spread over the pad and be instantly absorbed into the body of the pad. A shield of a pliable liquid-impervious sheet material is attached to one face of the pad in such manner that a major portion of the shield may be spaced away from the pad to facilitate cleansing of the pad. Combined with the pad are ties for tying it around the neck in garment-protecting position. Other features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures herein described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawing, in which one of various possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a bib of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the bib; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, an infants bib embodying the invention is shown to comprise a pad 1 of soft, spongy, porous material. for the pad are foam rubber and sponge rubber, finepored foam rubber, such as split cosmetic-grade foam rubber, being preferred. The pad is of substantial thickness, for example, about one-quarter inch, and is prefably completely porous from one of its faces through to the other. As shown, the pad has a neck cut-out 3, and it will be understood that it may be made in any suitable outline other than that shown.

The front face of the pad, its face which is exposed for absorption when the bib is worn, is designated 5 and its back face is designated 7. As illustrated, the back face is made liquid-impervious by providing a shield 9 of liquid-impervious pliable material, such as a sheet of liquid-impervious flexible plastic material, for example a vinyl plastic. The shield is attached to the back of the pad only at widely spaced points thereon so that it may be in part spaced away from the back face of the pad for the specific purpose described subsequently. As shown, the shield is attached to the pad by four eyelets 11, two of which are located on the opposite sides of the neck cut-out 3. These two eyelets also serve to attach two tapes 13 to the pad, the tapes serving as ties to be tied around the infants neck to hold the bib in place. The other two eyelets 11 are located at opposite sides of the bib adjacent the level of the bottom of the cut-out, thereby leaving the major portion of the shield below the cut-out free of the pad so that it may be spaced away from the back face of the pad.

Pad 1 is impregnated with a wetting agent. The preferred group of such agents is the synthetic detergents, which do not lose their effectiveness in hard water. Specific examples of synthetic detergents which are suit- 2,694,199 Patented Nov. 16, 1954 able for the purpose are sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium Specific examples of material dodecyl sulfate. This impregnation is an important feature of the invention, inasmuch as an unimpregnated pad does not have the necessary high and rapid absorptive capacity which is required for the purpose of protecting an intants garments. The impregnation with a synthetic detergent makes the pad not only highly absorptive as to quantity, but also makes it capable of rapid absorption so that any liquid or semi-liquid spilled on the pad is absorbed before it has had time to run 01f the pad on to an infants garments. The importance of this will be apparent when it is considered that the majority of infants foods are liquid or semi-liquid.

In use, the bib absorbs spilled infants foods. Penetration of absorbed foods all the way through to the infants garments is prevented by the impervious backing shield 9. When the bib has become soiled, it is laundered by using one of the many commercially available synthetic detergents such as one of the agents previously mentioned. In laundering the bib, the suds are readily flushed completely through the pad to cleanse it thoroughly of absorbed foods since the pad is porous and since the major portion of the backing shield 9 below the cut-out may be spaced away from the back of the pad to allow the suds to penetrate completely through the pad. Laundering is effected without rinsing out the synthetic detergent, this being important to reimpregnate the pad.

Preferably, in commerce, the bib is marketed already impregnated with the wetting agent. It may be initially impregnated with such an agent having little or no detergent properties or with a synthetic detergent. It is contemplated, however, that the bib may be marketed without any initial impregnation, with instructions that it be laundered before it is used, in one of the commercial synthetic detergents without rinsing, so that the initial impregnation is effected in its first laundering.

It has been found that when the detergent is left in the absorbent pad, growth of bacteria is inhibited. Foam rubber is an excellent material for the absorbent pad because of its ability to hold massive quantities of liquid, and because it can be impregnated with a wetting agent. Moreover, the foam rubber pad does not have to dry between uses, but may be used while damp without any substantial loss of effectiveness, excess moisture being first removed by squeezing or wringing out the pad.

The impervious shield 9 is employed because the pad is porous, and if a large quantity of liquid or semiliquid is spilled on the pad, some of it might soak through to the back of the pad. The mode of attachment of the shield 9 is advantageous because this enables suds to le llzushed through the pores of the pad from front to In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitmg sense.

I claim:

A bib having upper and lower portions, said upper portion having a neck cut-out, said lower portion constituting the major portion of said bib, said bib comprising an absorbent pad of foam rubber impregnated with a synthetic detergent, a shield of pliable liquidimpervious sheet material attached to one face of the pad only by a pair of fasteners on opposite sides and adjacent the top of the cut-out and another pair of fasteners, located at opposite sides of the bib adjacent the level of the bottom of the cut-out thereby leaving the major portion of the shield below the cut-out free of the pad so that it may be spaced away from said face of the pad, and ties for tying the pad around the neck attached to the pad by the first-mentioned pair of fasteners.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file 9f this went Iugglgegm UNITED STATES PATENTS 214691894 Number Name Date 174,099 Wilber Feb.' 29, 1876 5 2,244,656 Asch June 10,' 1941 Nuggegso Name Date Romaine Apr. 12, 1949 Rogers May 10, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain June 14, 1948 

